If Vietnam trains 70-100 people each year, it will take another 12 to 15 years to have enough qualified personnel to operate a nuclear power plant. According to the Atomic Energy Institute, the current situation regarding human resources for the nuclear sector and the nuclear power program in our country is not very promising! 
While candidates across all university departments fiercely compete for admission, the nuclear physics departments at major universities such as Hanoi University of Science and Technology and the University of Science – Vietnam National University, Hanoi, have been struggling with low enrollment for over a decade. Even with significantly lower admission scores compared to other fields, these programs rarely attract enough students.
Each year, only a handful are trained!
Although many candidates apply to university, only a few dozen enroll in nuclear science each year… In the image: A university entrance exam
Training personnel for nuclear science has always been a rather bleak field of study… Each year, the number of students entering nuclear science programs at universities hovers around just a couple of dozen.
The Atomic Energy Institute, which is at the forefront of receiving these “products,” has placed great emphasis on training a workforce for its sector. The Institute has provided scholarships for outstanding students. While this temporary measure has slightly increased the number of students studying nuclear physics, it is not enough to attract more students.
One of the reasons is that graduates in nuclear physics find it difficult to secure employment, and when they do, the salaries are often modest, as this specialty holds a rather vague position in universities and has limited practical applications in society.
Additionally, there is a perception that working in the nuclear or atomic field may adversely affect… reproductive capabilities!
The nuclear sector: in need of “youth renewal”!
According to guidelines from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), a project to bring a nuclear power plant into operation requires approximately 3,500-4,500 people, including about 500-700 with university or advanced degrees, 700-1,000 technicians, and 2,200-3,000 skilled workers of various types.
Training qualified personnel from the pre-project phase through project management, technical oversight, trial operations, maintenance, and radioactive waste management is not easy and cannot be achieved in a short time, even with adequate facilities.
If Vietnam can train 70-100 people each year, it will take another 12 to 15 years to have enough qualified personnel.
As of early 2005, Vietnam had only about 600 personnel working in the nuclear sector, most of whom are from the Atomic Energy Institute.
Meanwhile, the number of personnel at the Institute has decreased by about 20% over the past 10 years due to various reasons, including transitioning to other fields, working for foreign companies, or long-term stays abroad. Notably, the nuclear sector’s workforce is aging, with the average age of Institute staff currently at 45, and there are almost no talented individuals under 35 to train abroad. The situation regarding human resources at the Rare Earth Geology Federation and the Nuclear Physics Center – Institute of Physics is not much better.
The issue of human resources in nuclear science has been largely neglected for a long time, as noted by experts at various specialized workshops organized by the Atomic Energy Institute. If we want to have a nuclear power plant operational by 2020, it is essential to have a supplementary training plan starting now.
